Origin Marking (Hansard, 21 February 1983)

§ 15. Mr. Waller
asked the Minister for Trade if he has any plans to amend the regulations relating to marks of origin.

§ Dr. Vaughan
I am aware of my hon. Friend's great interest in this and I am glad to tell him that I am currently reviewing the origin marking order introduced in January last year.

§ Mr. Waller
I thank my hon. Friend for that reply. Is he aware of the great number of prosecutions that there have been recently relating to the fibre content of imported cloth, particularly from the EC? As the Trade Descriptions Act 1972 defines the country of origin as that in which the last processing act took place, does my hon. Friend agree that that is not very helpful to the British consumer who wants to buy British?

§ Dr. Vaughan
I am looking at this, and I am aware of the difficulties, as is my hon. Friend. I have asked the trading standards service for an urgent report on this and other difficulties, and have underlined my concern that the order should be effectively enforced.

§ Mr. Cryer
Does the Minister accept that one of the greatest difficulties concerns garments that are made up of imported cloth but which, because they are assembled in the United Kingdom, are marked "Made in the United Kingdom." This is highly deceptive and the Minister has already promised to review the order, but time is slipping by. When will he introduce amending legislation so that people know whether the cloth is made in the United Kingdom?

§ Dr. Vaughan
I am aware of the difficulties about this. I underline that I am most anxious that people should be able to identify British goods of quality, and the origin marking is an important factor in this. The basic message is a simple one—where British is best, buy the flag.

§ Mr. Neil Thorne
When my hon. Friend looks at this matter, will he bear in mind that, because of the complexity of the manufacture of a number of goods these days, the parts often come into the country and are only assembled here? Therefore, will my hon. Friend look at the possibility of showing what percentage of the manufacture has been carried out here before allowing manufacturers an origin marking saying that the goods are made in Britain?

§ Dr. Vaughan
Yes, I am considering that.

§ Mr. Sheerman
Will the Minister send one of his civil servants to Greece to look at the cloth being sold in so many of the markets and shops and see the many fraudulent markings such as "Made in Huddersfield", "Made in Yorkshire" and "All British Wool"? Can the Minister put a stop to this? We have had promises in the House year after year, but nothing has been done. Cannot the Minister's civil servants afford to fly to Greece?

§ Dr. Vaughan
I am aware of the problems in this kind of trade, and with other kinds of counterfeiting. This was why we recently set up a counterfeiting unit in the Department of Trade, under my hon. Friend.

§ Mr. Dykes
Is my hon. Friend satisfied with the EC initiatives to protect origin marks and the related and specific question of trade marks? As we are the world leaders in trade mark matters, will my hon. Friend press to have the EC trade mark centre established in Britain?

§ Dr. Vaughan
We are pressing hard for the European trade mark centre to be located here, as it will be of great value not only to us but to Europe.

§ Mr. John Fraser
Will the Minister make regulations to extend origin markings to advertisements so that, for instance, with motor vehicles sold under a well-known British name, people will know whether they were manufactured in Britain, Belgium or Spain?

§ Dr. Vaughan
Yes, we are looking at this, but, as the hon. Member will know when it comes to advertisements, particularly for such things as mail order goods, there are difficulties over publishing times and knowing from where the goods are coming. We shall have to see to this.